When we sell to consumers, we all know the importance of reaching them on an emotional level, not just a rational one. Remember, people buy with their hearts, not just their heads.But when it comes to B2B advertising, many advertisers do a one-eighty. "Oh, these are business people. Just give them the facts. Be serious. Be 'businesslike.' Use graphs and charts and stuff." I say baloney! That kind of thinking is precisely why so much B2B advertising is dull, boring and not offering much of an ROI.The fact is, business people are people first. They're busy, have short attention spans and are not eagerly waiting to read your message. Which is why the same principles apply in B2B as consumer advertising. 1: Catch their attention 2: Inform, involve and impress 3: Go beyond facts... use feelings. Most importantly, stop thinking of the B2B target as business people and start thinking of them as people who happen to be doing business.
I agree entirely with the notion that it is the premise of people that makes the sale happen. Not a business. There are people inside our clients headquarters. I however believe that the average CMO inside these companies tend to behave more like the business role at all times and completely disregard that theirs is a people to people proposition to tackle as well. Honestly, the age old battle between marketing and sales people for example is still heated but in my opinion it is the wrong way to approach things. CMO's really need to learn more, think less about what they learned in college and get real with the fact that things now require change on several levels. The marketing field is dictated now more than ever, by the consumer of the clients products and or service being offered. For instance...it was estimated that in '07 consumers received 63 billion pieces of junk mail. So, the professional industry icons recommended in early '08 to start a multi-channel effort, with trigger event marketing surrounding real life experiences...people things. And that is what I do at my firm. But I have to tell you something CMO's still are not paying attention
I have been in marketing and sales for years and I have done B2B sales and marketing. From my experience I could tell that the best deals I've got happend when I was face to face with my clients. Why? Because I've always cared about the clients and in return the clients bought from me.
The point I am making is that no matter how creative an advertising is if it doesn't have enough benefits that will resolve the client's problem it won't work. So, instead of being a sales person become a partner and a problem solver; sooner or later it's going to pay off. Unfortunatelly, many marketers go after quick sales offering deep discounts and not enough value and benefits to the clients. Not a good strategy, small results and ultimatelly lost brand loyalty.
With my brain and intelect I believe that the future belongs to the Web and the Digital. However, with my heart I know that humans buy from other humans. The point? Use the technology but when creating an ad always think about the client first. Then your marketing will be successful.